Shame on Tesco - Removing Irish Brands from its Stores

darc

Brenan wrote: »

I am reliably informed that a very large percentage of Irish brands and Irish manufactured products are to be removed from ALL Tesco stores over the coming weeks. .

I still don't see the truth in the above statement!

The OP obviously had some info but exagerated it to the extent that even people that dislike tesco started to defend them.

If the OP had stated that "Tesco are going to replace SOME irish brands with imported brands in their Border stores and possibly spread this throughout all their stores" the statement would have been more correct and would have received a totally different response.

If Tesco do withdraw brands that I purchase, (I go out of my way to purchase Irish products) I will simply move my shopping elsewhere as will thousands of others.

Dunnes must be rubbing their hands with glee on this one!

lucernarian

A lot of people slated what was the OP's uncited story with basically uncited and unfounded bashings of their own. While it's grand to take an uncited story with a pinch of salt, you can't automatically say it cannot be true.

This link (http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/0502/tesco.html) brought it to my attention. RTÉ certainly aren't under any ambiguity about it. While it can be technically argued that replacing brands with cheaper brands doesn't directly target Irish brands, i'd bet my bottom dollar that there's a high correlation between the brands vanishing off shelves and what country they're made in (i.e. Ireland).

Thanks OP for the info. As for whether it's shameful or not...

vibe666

mike65 wrote: »

and the penny drops! The ROI is overpriced to the tune of about 20%, for years this was concealed by the rising standards of living and the exchange rate but now the reality is starting to dawn. We are way too expensive but still doing our best to pretend otherwise.

indeed. it begs the question of where is the money going?

someone somewhere is making too much profit. either that or they are so bad at running a business they are haemmoraging money. either way, they get no sympathy.

as i said before, if you can't offer a compatitive product then you shouldn't be trading.

Brenan

There has been a lot of media coverage over the weekend about Tesco plans for their stores in border regions and the rest of ROI. I am still concerned that most of the media coverage is not based on fact and this is because the media is getting its information solely from Tesco and not the Irish producers and manufacturers that supply Tesco.

I have stated all along, I don’t disagree with Tesco trying to reduce retail prices by eliminating their Irish distributors for UK and International goods. My concern is that Tesco are removing Irish produced products and Irish brands from their stores (and they are removing Irish brands only by the way) to make way for a huge increase in the range of products that are imported from the UK. This weekend they closed 8 border stores to totally refit them and despite what Tesco say about this being just the border stores for now, they have already internally agreed to launch these new plans in the remainder of the country over the coming weeks.

I can guarantee that when these border stores reopen on Tuesday morning there will be a token number of Irish products left on shelf. As Tesco control 25% of the grocery market in ROI, Irish food producers that are left with a token number of sku’s in Tesco will find it necessary to dramatically reduce their workforce and indeed this will be the end for a number of Irish brands as without the Tesco business they will most definitely find it difficult to survive.

We all want cheaper prices but we need jobs too, with the way the Irish economy is now the last thing we need is thousands of more job losses from the Irish food industry and this Tesco plan will bring about this. Irish consumers need to be given the choice of choosing between Irish produced products and International products and Tesco are taking away our right to do that (and this is the basis for my argument).

It is my opinion that we must support Irish jobs and Irish manufacturing and Tesco policy (whether people believe it or not) is to replace Irish produced products and Irish brands with UK alternative products and brands. If Tesco continue to implement this policy my job and the jobs of many of my colleagues up and down the country will most definitely be lost.

Fluffybums

Brenan, the simple answer is to reduce Tesco's market share by shopping in other supermarkets and shops. By shopping elsewhere (though not Lidl or Aldi as they make Tesco look like an Irish company) and buying Irish, the jobs in the manufacturer will not be lost.
This action by Tesco will test the competitiveness of the Irish manufacturer and loyalty of the Irish shopper.
The Irish shopper will determine the future of the Irish manufacturer more than Tesco especially as both Dunnes and Superquinn still stock these manufacturers.

getz

Brenan wrote: »

There has been a lot of media coverage over the weekend about Tesco plans for their stores in border regions and the rest of ROI. I am still concerned that most of the media coverage is not based on fact and this is because the media is getting its information solely from Tesco and not the Irish producers and manufacturers that supply Tesco.

I have stated all along, I don’t disagree with Tesco trying to reduce retail prices by eliminating their Irish distributors for UK and International goods. My concern is that Tesco are removing Irish produced products and Irish brands from their stores (and they are removing Irish brands only by the way) to make way for a huge increase in the range of products that are imported from the UK. This weekend they closed 8 border stores to totally refit them and despite what Tesco say about this being just the border stores for now, they have already internally agreed to launch these new plans in the remainder of the country over the coming weeks.

I can guarantee that when these border stores reopen on Tuesday morning there will be a token number of Irish products left on shelf. As Tesco control 25% of the grocery market in ROI, Irish food producers that are left with a token number of sku’s in Tesco will find it necessary to dramatically reduce their workforce and indeed this will be the end for a number of Irish brands as without the Tesco business they will most definitely find it difficult to survive.

We all want cheaper prices but we need jobs too, with the way the Irish economy is now the last thing we need is thousands of more job losses from the Irish food industry and this Tesco plan will bring about this. Irish consumers need to be given the choice of choosing between Irish produced products and International products and Tesco are taking away our right to do that (and this is the basis for my argument).

It is my opinion that we must support Irish jobs and Irish manufacturing and Tesco policy (whether people believe it or not) is to replace Irish produced products and Irish brands with UK alternative products and brands. If Tesco continue to implement this policy my job and the jobs of many of my colleagues up and down the country will most definitely be lost.

i am not so sure just what you are saying -do you work for tesco?-if you do i am certain that when tesco drops the prices of its food in the stores ,more jobs will be created not lost,if its cheeper to make sell and ship food goods from the uk to ireland than it is for ireland produce and sell then there is something seriously wrong with your food manufacturing industry ,we all joined the EU so no of us can moan that its not fair when thing go against us ; the days of protectionism are far gone-if you take the devils money

Hagar

getz wrote: »

i am not so sure just what you are saying -do you work for tesco?-if you do i am certain that when tesco drops the prices of its food in the stores ,more jobs will be created not lost,if its cheeper to make sell and ship food goods from the uk to ireland than it is for ireland produce and sell then there is something seriously wrong with your food manufacturing industry ,we all joined the EU so no of us can moan that its not fair when thing go against us ; the days of protectionism are far gone-if you take the devils money

What new jobs are you talking about? Shelf stackers? Will they replace the jobs lost in the food industry? I don't think you really have any idea what loss of the volume sales into Tesco is going to do to local producers/manufacturers. The only way to keep overhead cost per unit sold down is to run huge volumes through your distribution network. When the volume starts to drop the cost per unit will start to go up and that will have a disasterous effect on the ability of Irish suppliers to compete with UK suppliers who will then be benefitting from their volume/cost per unit ratio changing for the better. Everybody in the supply chain is going to be crucified. I know how it works, I was in the industry for years. If Tesco roll out this policy to all their stores and the Irish public do not shift their spend to the Irish supermarkets there will be massive job losses.

brian ireland

ch750536 wrote: »

So, loads of apologies to the OP then eh guys?

GerardKeating wrote: »

A week since this thread was started and not one single verified report of a single product removed from shelves in Tesco Ireland....

Gerard your silence is deafening!! You posted loads of comments about the OP. And when the facts came out you went into hiding.

I don't like making personal attack on posters. One of the Mods here on boards says "attack
the post not the poster" Lesson for everybody I suspect!!!!!!!

getz

Hagar wrote: »

What new jobs are you talking about? Shelf stackers? Will they replace the jobs lost in the food industry? I don't think you really have any idea what loss of the volume sales into Tesco is going to do to local producers/manufactures. The only way to keep overhead cost per unit sold down is to run huge volumes through your distribution network. When the volume starts to drop the cost per unit will start to go up and that will have a disasterous effect on the ability of Irish suppliers to compete with UK suppliers who will then be benefitting from their volume/cost per unit ratio changing for the better. Everybody in the supply chain is going to be crucified. I know how it works, I was in the industry for years. If Tesco roll out this policy to all there stores and the Irish public do not shift their spend to the Irish supermarkets there will be massive job losses.

what is happening in the republic at this time,cutting costs low profit margins ect is not new,this kind of thing has been going on in the uk for years with tesco asda,morrisons,sainsburys,going head to head,many supermarket chains went out of business,but the outcome of it all was that the market producers slimmed and became more efficient,that is one of the main reasons why it is cheaper to bring some goods from the uk,so in the long term

Hagar

The UK supermarket takeover scanario is not comparable to this situation. UK companies took over rivals and re-badged their premises, generally kept on their staff and absorbed the existing suppliers into their own supply distribution network. The goods were still being produced and sold in the UK and the pay packets/jobs in manufacturing and retail stayed in the UK. What's happening in Ireland is Tesco are cutting loose their Irish suppliers leaving them with little alternative outlets for their goods so job losses will inevitably follow. They are bringing in goods from the UK so the manufacturing capacity in the UK is assured and will grow. The money spent in Tesco Ireland will no longer filter back into the Irish economy through Irish suppliers paying their employees. The cash will flow out of Ireland and end up in some pea cannery in Norfolk. If you can't see that or refuse to see that now you are deluding yourself.
Another small point, don't expect Tesco to maintain low prices when they have put all their serious opposition out of business.

Nody

So the sum of the argument here is; Support Irish overpriced goods because Tesco will not stock them any more because customers don't buy them. Got ya!

Look Ireland is in a big European market now and people are going north shopping. The shops in the north don't stock Irish items yet this has not stopped people shopping there; hence Tesco will lower their prices by bringing the same goods down here. Now if you think the Irish food industry should remain then there are two options; either you pay a big premium for it (and I recommend you buy it directly from the butcher etc. then) or they have to drop prices and actually be, you know, competative (Buy Irish campaign don't work to well when things are in the drain ya know).

People tend to paint the idea of irish food manufacturers going out as some kind of Armageddon scenario where as in all other business the idea of either you're competatibve or you go bust has been a reality for a decade. Do you think the programming people who lost job to India are some how less important? What about the building sector? The food industry is nothing special lads and ladies; either it can compete or it will go under; that is the way of the market or do you suggest that the food market should be held under it's arms with yet more cash (as EU don't spend enough as it is on farmers)?

Oh and and the whole UK Tesco thing is not a Irish thing only; a friend in Bratislava, Slovakia told me that they suddenly has this big shelf space at the entrance listed at 20% off and it's all UK stuff (well at least it all got English text and in Slovakia that is a very sure sign of not being locally packed/created stuff!).

getz

Hagar wrote: »

The UK supermarket takeover scanario is not comparable to this situation. UK companies took over rivals and re-badged their premises, generally kept on their staff and absorbed the existing suppliers into their own supply distribution network. The goods were still being produced and sold in the UK and the pay packets/jobs in manufacturing and retail stayed in the UK. What's happening in Ireland is Tesco are cutting loose their Irish suppliers leaving them with little alternative outlets for their goods so job losses will inevitably follow. They are bringing in goods from the UK so the manufacturing capacity in the UK is assured and will grow. The money spent in Tesco Ireland will no longer filter back into the Irish economy through Irish suppliers paying their employees. The cash will flow out of Ireland and end up in some pea cannery in Norfolk. If you can't see that or refuse to see that now you are deluding yourself.
Another small point, don't expect Tesco to maintain low prices when they have put all their serious opposition out of business.

to me your argument dosent hold up i believe that up to 60% of irish farm goods are sold to the uk market and i think i saw the other day that up to 85% of the irish beef is taken by tesco [uk] and asda,so in a way you may be getting irish food comming back from uk factories ,what is certainly needed is a walmart[asda] ireland

Dellas

Nody wrote: »

So the sum of the argument here is; Support Irish overpriced goods because Tesco will not stock them any more because customers don't buy them. Got ya!

Look Ireland is in a big European market now and people are going north shopping. The shops in the north don't stock Irish items yet this has not stopped people shopping there; hence Tesco will lower their prices by bringing the same goods down here. Now if you think the Irish food industry should remain then there are two options; either you pay a big premium for it (and I recommend you buy it directly from the butcher etc. then) or they have to drop prices and actually be, you know, competative (Buy Irish campaign don't work to well when things are in the drain ya know).

.

I just thank god that there is a border with the United Kingdom and that people can cross the border and avoid being ripped off in the Republic of Ireland. Just think what would happen if there was no option of driving North to save. Prices would be even worse.

See the thing is that the Irish complain about money going North and not buying Irish goods but then themselves go North and complain about ripp off Ireland. There is a word for that :rolleyes:

Its all ok to have these high class principles but alot of people should look at their own shopping baskets and see how much of their own personal produce is made in ROI. Maybe countries that buy millions of €€€ worth of Irish produce like Butter/Milk and Cheese should stop buying these things and only stock local produce.

Hagar

Unfortunately it's a chicken and egg situation. For Irish suppliers to bring their prices down volume sales must go up but because prices are high volume stays low.

There's only two ways to change that either the supplier sells below cost and hopes for volumes to increase before he goes out of business or the shoppers buy more of his expensive product and the increased sales in time allow him to pass on the reductions to the shoppers who were loyal.

Neither option is great. TBH I doesn't look good for the Irish suppliers, money is tight so people will shop cheaply. Short term this works, medium term there will be Irish jobs lost and the cash spent on groceries will flow out of the country leading to longer term economic reprecussions.

Sadly inevitable.

My 2c.

Hagar

getz wrote: »

to me your argument dosent hold up i believe that up to 60% of irish farm goods are sold to the uk market and i think i saw the other day that up to 85% of the irish beef is taken by tesco [uk] and asda,so in a way you may be getting irish food comming back from uk factories ,what is certainly needed is a walmart[asda] ireland

They are hardly going to import it and then export it back to Ireland and sell it cheaper than Irish produce that hasn't travelled all that distance.

getz

Hagar wrote: »

They are hardly going to import it and then export it back to Ireland and sell it cheaper than Irish produce that hasn't travelled all that distance.

check it out they do proof of that is in any supermarket in the north that gets its goods from the uk-irish cheese butter ect .

Hagar

That's not a re-import, NI is part of the UK.

/edit It was probably shipped direct from the Republic into NI and never went to Britain.

getz

Hagar wrote: »

That's not a re-import, NI is part of the UK.

yes but it still has to go over to the main land and back -so to me something is wrong when its cheeper to buy goods from the irish republic in the uk ,and sell them back cheeper in the republic ,your own manufacturing industry is ripping you off ,this has been said many times by other irish posters,if tesco think they can sauce cheeper in the uk ,if i was a goverment minister i would by asking why

Hagar

The "main land" doncha just love it.

getz

getz wrote: »

yes but it still has to go over to the main land and back -so to me something is wrong when its cheeper to buy goods from the irish republic in the uk ,and sell them back cheeper in the republic ,your own manufacturing industry is ripping you off ,this has been said many times by other irish posters,if tesco think they can sauce cheeper in the uk ,if i was a goverment minister i would by asking why

all asda /tesco sauce out from the uk just a couple of miles from where i live [knott end on sea] i can see the tesco/asda wagons going on to the stena line ferries that go over to larne

vibe666

getz wrote: »

yes but it still has to go over to the main land and back

why does it?

I can buy fresh Irish produce in Asda in NI cheaper than I can buy it in the Republic and it certainly hasn't gone to England (or Wales or Scotland) and back since it was produced.

If producers of Irisah produce can afford to sell to the likes of Asda cheap enough that I can buy it cheaply in the north, they can afford to supply it in the south at that price. If they aren't then they are making too much profit and deserve to go out of business.

If they ARE and someone else in the supply chain is overcharging then they deserve to go out of business.

getz

Hagar wrote: »

The "main land" doncha just love it.

oh you are nasty ,i will cross of shady pines for my holiday destination this year in case i meet hager

Sir Oxman

getz wrote: »

to me your argument dosent hold up i believe that up to 60% of irish farm goods are sold to the uk market and i think i saw the other day that up to 85% of the irish beef is taken by tesco [uk] and asda,so in a way you may be getting irish food comming back from uk factories ,what is certainly needed is a walmart[asda] ireland

(Hopefully) at a cheaper price than when Tesco maybe sourced it through Irish distributors.

Crazy, but most likely true.

GerardKeating

brian ireland wrote: »

Gerard your silence is deafening!! You posted loads of comments about the OP. And when the facts came out you went into hiding.

Actually, it was a BANK HOIDAY WEEKEND, some of us have lives outside boards.ie.

And nothing have yet been proved, Tesco still deny the claims of the OP...

Our man in Havana

Tomorrow will show who is right.

Sattwa69

This is a very interesting thread, and I have looked at the first 2 pages and the last 2 pages of argument/discussion.
I deal with Tesco as a supplier, and I have dealt with Tesco since they cam e in here 10 odd years ago.
Be under no illusion that Tesco couldn't care less about Ireland or the Irish. They are in business to make money and nothing else. They will walk on anyone and any organisation that gets in their way. They will get better pricing in Britain because they will threaten the GB supplier that if he doesn't drop his prices he will de dropped like a hot stone. Whether he can afford to drop price or not is of no concern to Tesco.
Bargaining power of buyers (Michael Porter) and less and less routes to market is a very dangerous place for an open market to get to. We managed to stifle it slightly here with the restriction on store sizes which kept Tesco at heel. However it was only a matter of time until it came full circle, and the authorities bowed to the Tesco PR machine about how much they were investing in Ireland in their employment and their computers for schools, and their tacky 'Oirish' signs on their doors

Just wait, all you who think its great getting 'cheaper' prices at Tesco now. wait until its like our nearest Island where there are NO corner shops worth talking about and a small handful of Multiples have all the power...then you can kiss goodnight to low pricing as an oligopoly inevitably emerges.

I am not suggesting supporting inefficient organisations, but I strongly urge you to vary your shopping and ensure that a good balance of stores survive in Ireland.
Listen carefully to the Dunnes Stores slogan.....'the difference is we're Irish'

Our man in Havana

Listen carefully to the Dunnes Stores slogan.....'the difference is we're Irish'

That slogan is so patronising and puts me off spending a cent in the place.

1huge1

Sattwa69 wrote: »

Listen carefully to the Dunnes Stores slogan.....'the difference is we're Irish'

I fail to see how Dunnes differs in any way to what you just said about Tesco... they too are a business are they not and if recent reports are to believed are possibly going to get bought out by Asda (Walmart).

Oh and I agree with Bond-007, its really cheap marketing in my opinion.

GerardKeating

snubbleste wrote: »

Just re-read the OP's first post
He seems to got the news story accurate

Or the news story is based on his origional post.

snubbleste wrote: »

Well done OP, shame on the rest of ye!

Why, it's many days later and still no actualy case of a product being removed fronm the shelves.

snubbleste wrote: »

Maybe some journo will take up Dermot Breen on this issue?

Ddad

Try reading a post fully before you haze it.

I've always been a scocialist, I don't shop in Dunnes. If we all shopped local we might have a choice of where to shop in years to come. I travel to the UK a bit for work and some of the large towns I go to don't have a butchers in the town outside of the multiples. So the choices of meat in those towns are dictated by poorly stocked multiples.

I did forget my own wallet in my local supervalu and I did take the shopping home and came back with the money two days later. No problem because, they know me and I shop there regularly.